


Lockjaw

by widowswine



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Adler, CODCW, Cold War, Fluff, Other, adler/reader, call of duty cold war, cod: cold war, cod:cw, gender neutral bell, russell adler - Freeform, slight whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28576524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/widowswine/pseuds/widowswine
Summary: Takes place pre-ending, while they are still searching for Perseus. When it gets cold, Bell resorts to some unorthodox ways to help warm up their team leader.
Relationships: Russell Adler & Bell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Lockjaw

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not looking for crit, please go easy on me lol. I'm doing this just for fun :)   
> This one is quite vanilla but I hope to have more... exciting ;) fics with Adler in the future! just wanted to get this idea written out before I forgot about it or pushed it to the side to never be finished.

While evidence was still being compiled against Perseus, the months drew on until it was winter. The safehouse wasn’t entirely warm, even with Russell Adler’s whole team spending most of their time there. It was a particularly rough winter, snow already coating the ground before it was December. It slowly began to affect the team, keeping some up at night, waking others up early, and drawing shivers from each of them throughout the day. None had caved yet: leaving for their room early, grabbing blankets and wearing them around the evidence board, or hugging themselves to keep warm. Of all people to break and succumb to the hardships the cold had brought them, Bell never thought that Adler would be the first. 

The team was at the evidence board: Adler in the chair, Sims and Lazar across from him, Park near her table that she used to cross-reference their evidence to that of M16, and Bell behind the table with everyone in their sights. Adler had just finished writing one of their ideas down before he gave a heavy sigh, looking once to the evidence board before turning in the chair to face all of them. 

“Well, we’ve gotten this far. I think if we-” he abruptly stopped, mouth still open for a minute before he closed it hard enough to make the muscles in his temple move. Bell could have sworn they heard his teeth audibly clamp together as he did so. His brows furrowed as he did this before placing his hands on the table, pushing himself off. “Actually, let’s finish this tomorrow. I need a smoke.” 

He left wordlessly, grabbing his pack of cigarettes and going to the door of the safehouse. He exited without looking back, leaving Bell to look between the rest of the team members. 

“Is he always like this?” they questioned, raising a brow. “He just went out to smoke a few hours ago, he can’t seriously be in withdrawal so soon.” 

Sims and Lazar merely shrugged, beginning to go off and do their own thing. Bell looked to the table before them, and noticed Adler’s lighter still on the corner of the table. After lifting their head and surveying, they noticed the only other person still there was Park. Bell pointed to the lighter. “Why would he go smoke without his lighter? Something’s up with him. Did you see how agitated he was, in the span of an instant?” 

“Bell, leave well enough alone.” The ebony haired woman gave him a pointed look before turning away, going to her desk. 

Bell followed. “You know something. What’s up with him tonight?” 

Park sighed shortly, turning around and putting weight on her hip while crossing her arms. “You don’t know when to stop, do you?” she quipped, but also looked past Bell’s shoulder to see what the others were doing, or if they were listening. She then refocused on Bell, lips a thin line. She seemed like she was debating talking again before she spoke. 

“It’s the cold.” Was all she said, as if that were an answer. With that, she sat down, crossing her legs, and began to pour over the files on Perseus again. 

Bell, however, simply stood there expectantly. “You can’t just say something that simple and pretend that it’s enough. Seriously, what gives?” 

Park leaned back in her chair, abandoning her task. She regarded Bell with a scrutinized look before she conceded. “Fine. But this stays between us; Adler has made me one of the very few people he tells this. The only reason I’m telling you is because you would have marched your ass out there with his lighter, calling his bullshit. If you think about it, I’m looking out for you. He would have beat your ass if you tried to confront him about this.” She took a deep breath, eyes going towards the safehouse door. She felt bad to reveal whatever information she was holding. 

“When he had surgeries to fix his jaw after what happened, they inserted something metal to keep the bones in place. Because of that, when it’s cold, sometimes his jaw will lock up on him. Other times, it simply pains him. Much like when someone with arthritis or previously broken bones can predict when it rains because of the ache in their bones.” She paused before her lips turned into a sly smile. “That’s why I’m convinced that he can predict weather, too. Some days he’ll wear his gloves or his jacket when it’s not cold, only for the rest of us to realize that it’ll be raining only after it’s too late. We’ve begun to pick up on that now, and tend to dress accordingly when Adler changes his wardrobe.” 

She had tried to end it on a pleasant note, and Bell smiled at it, chuckling lightly, but they couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness for the man. They could only imagine the long-term pain he would feel from the traumatic accident, let alone the stress and sense of inferiority when his jaw locked the way it did during the debriefing not long ago. 

“Thanks, Park. I won’t let on that I know.” They gave a wink before clapping her once on the shoulder. Then they went to their room, staying there for a short while. When Adler hadn’t come back in yet, Bell couldn’t shake the urge to go see him. They sat up from the small table in their room to help with the evidence against Perseus. Letting their notes, pictures, and various copies of evidence to pour over aside, Bell stood and entered the main room with the large evidence board. With a quick glance across the room, they were satisfied that nobody was there. Park must be in the back, and the men must be still busied with whatever they were doing. Bell took this as their sign to leave without being questioned. Their hands felt heavy on the handle of the door and the decision to go out and talk to Adler was great. During the exhale of a heavy breath, though, they opened the door. 

There, in the midst of a light flurry of snow, stood Adler. He was many feet away from the door, his body and one leg leaned against the building. One arm was crossed and the other holding a cigarette to his mouth, elbow leaned on his crossed arm. At the sound of the door, he glanced at Bell, merely looking at them for many moments. An unlit cigarette rested between the nimble fingers of his raised hand as he waited to see what Bell would do. 

Bell quietly approached, slightly surprised at the lack of a greeting or inquiries on what they were doing. They stopped a little bit away from Adler before producing his lighter from their pocket and extending their arm to give it to him. 

“You forgot this,” they said quietly, wishing that his touch lingered just a few moments longer when he took the lighter from them. 

In an attempt to be companionable, Bell also leaned against the building after Adler gave a nod of thanks. “You’re quiet tonight. I can only imagine how much the cold affects you.” 

The way Adler seemed to bristle almost immediately was expected, and he put his raised foot on the ground to face Bell before the shorter of the two stopped him from doing or saying anything. Bell quickly stood in front of Adler, pushing themselves off the wall and standing in the taller man’s tracks. Slowly they raised their hands to the hem of the collar of their shirt, pulling it down and to the side. Adler seemed to not quite grasp what was unfolding, so he took a step back and pulled his eyes away. 

Bell, though, finishing maneuvering their shirt to show a raised and pink scar along their collarbone. “It sometimes hurts in the cold. It was from many years ago but it still sometimes bothers me,” they explained, watching as Adler slowly looked back. Bell couldn’t see his eyes beneath his tinted sunglasses, but they hoped he was glancing at what they were baring to him. With a small movement of his head, his attention was focused on Bell’s face now. 

“Is that what was bothering you at the conference table today?” Bell questioned gently. Without any sound or gestures of agreement or disagreement, they continued. “I understand if it was. I don’t like talking about it much, either.” Bell took a step closer, trying to read any reaction from him. With a closer look, though, the tension in his jaw was obvious. His teeth seemed to still be clenched, and his brows were contorted in an angry way. But he wasn’t angry with Bell, but rather the parts of his body that were affected by the cold. 

After many moments of silence, and Bell aware that Adler was having a hard time talking with his uncooperative jaw, Bell took a few steps closer. Then, before they could second guess their actions, they extended their arms and placed their hands on either side of Adler’s face, pulling him in for a kiss. It wasn’t much, but with the added body heat to his cold and locked jaw, they were hoping it would be enough to get the muscles to relax. It must have started to work, for before Bell pulled away, they could feel some of the tension melting beneath their touch. 

Pulling away, Bell smiled as they looked up to Adler, who seemed to be taken aback. He was not expecting it, it seemed. But his hands replaced Bell’s on his own cheeks, before his fingers trailed along his lips, tracing the remnants of their kiss. His mouth opened slightly, but was met with some resistance. He quickly closed it again, giving it a few moments before testing how far he could open it. 

“Don’t worry about speaking,” Bell said with a grin. “Want me to help? Maybe I can coax it to open again.” Without waiting for an answer, Bell did the same actions, pulling him in for another kiss. This time they were met with some tongue, an attempt to deepen the kiss. Bell had to fight the giggle that was rising in their chest at the try. They momentarily separated their lips while staying close to his face. “You don’t have to do anything.”


End file.
